Nobody, Somebody
by Nallyn
Summary: Who was Eragon? Of course, many in Alagaesia knew of the first Dragon Rider. But how many knew what he was like? What was his background? Did the Riders of old even know?  Horrid summary, sorry. Rated T because I don't know what to rate it as.
1. Chapter 1

**Forgot to put this in before I first posted this story..**

**Warning: This Eragon, my version of him, is bi and he _will_ have both female and male lovers in the future. No I won't get dirty and describe every single detail as it comes to mind. I don't think I could write that stuff. But it will probably be implied or some such.**

**There's also torture in this. (Not in this chapter, specifically)**

**So, yeah, read on if you're okay with that.**

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**I hoped this would be as long as it seemed on paper, but it turns out I was wrong. Darn. Oh well, it's still the longest thing I've ever written so far. Especially in only one chapter.**

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Chapter 1

Eragon woke up to the sound of several birds chirping outside his window.

"Stupid birds," he mumbled and rolled over, covering his head with his pillow.

But the world didn't want him to sleep, because only seconds later a voice came from outside his door.

"Eragon!" A female voice.

"Go away," he yawned, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"Get out here, Eragon! I know you're in there!"

He pulled the pillow off his head and yelled, "Fine!"

"Well, you don't have to scream at me… I'll wait in the hallway."

He blinked. That was easy. Then he sighed and dragged his hand down his face. Why couldn't Inelie let him sleep? She knew he hated getting up. Everyone in the house knew.

Eragon slowly got out of bed and walked towards the large mirror on the opposite wall. He shivered. He had always hated mirrors; he was always afraid of something, or someone, being there that shouldn't be…

He shook his head. Enough of those thoughts.

Eragon grabbed a small comb and started pulling it through his hair. It was shorter than how most elves kept their hair; it was barely past his ears, and was a very dark brown instead of black or silver. His skin was pale; that's the way it always was, and his face was rounder than normal. He was also thin no matter how much he ate.

He grimaced.

It was already bad enough that he was practically hated just for existing, yet his body decided to be different and set him apart further.

Finishing his hair, Eragon threw the comb on the floor and walked towards his dresser. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of leggings and a shirt. He quickly pulled off his bedclothes and put the clean outfit on. He immediately felt better; the clothes were plain, but comfortable and soft.

He put on a pair of socks and his boots and walked to the door.

He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob and sighed, "Another day, I guess."

He opened the door and walked into the hallway.

Eragon immediately stopped outside the door and looked around.

Where was Inelie?

_She might have gone to the kitchen…_he thought and went right.

Every single door, wall, and rug looked exactly the same; plain white walls, red rugs, and brown doors. No marks, pictures, statues, or anything else that might allow someone to notice a difference in an area and remember it.

Eragon turned four corners on his way to the kitchen. It was memory alone that kept him from getting lost.

He walked down one more hallway and turned left into an open doorway at the end.

He screamed, jumped backwards and hit the wall.

Inelie stood over him, laughing.

"You should've seen the look on your face!"

Considering how hard she was laughing, Eragon wasn't sure how she managed to speak.

He glared at her. "How could I have possibly looked at my own face?" His seemingly calm voice held a dash of I'm-going-to-tear-your-face-off.

Inelie immediately stopped laughing and tilted her head to the side with an innocent look.

"A mirror?"

"I'm not _completely_ obsessed with my looks like you are however, so I don't carry one with me at all times." Eragon couldn't keep the smile off his face as he spoke.

Inelie grinned.

"Now, why did you try to scare me to death?" Eragon asked, his smile fading slightly as he stood up.

"Because of the way you yelled at me earlier," Inelie answered, her grin not fading in the slightest, "You need to lighten up a little bit, you know?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, knowing all too well what she meant.

"Well…" Inelie hesitated, "you've been awfully depressed lately…and, um, we all miss the, uh, normal you…"

She paused and glanced at him.

"Are you okay, Eragon?" She finally asked, "We're all worried about you, ya know… Especially Rioro…" Inelie trailed off with a worried look, true to her word.

"I'm fine," Eragon said shortly, "I assume my overly-worried brother is the one that asked you to do this, right?"

Inelie slowly nodded. "It was partly my idea too, though," she added quickly.

"Of course."

She stared at him silently, expecting him to say more.

Eragon purposefully waited several moments before giving in.

He knew she meant well, and the others too, who were no doubt eagerly awaiting her report somewhere. He appreciated it in a way, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

Inelie waited patiently, watching him.

He smiled inwardly, deciding to wait a _little_ longer before speaking and started watching her.

Eragon understood why his brother was so interested in her.

Her face was smooth and her eyes a light blue. She had silver hair that reminded him of moonlight (he wasn't sure of what else he could compare it to…cheese, maybe?) and curled softly around her face reaching slightly past her shoulders. She was shorter than him, but gave off a feeling of being taller. She looked comfortable in a long, wavy red top that was almost a dress and long black leggings that were loose around her ankles. She was barefoot.

_She is really pretty, _he thought, _though she's more of a mother to me than anything else._

Inelie lightly cleared her throat when she noticed him staring at her.

Eragon started at the sudden noise and quickly looked away.

She gave him a curious look, but said nothing.

"Um," Eragon said while trying to collect his thoughts, "Inelie, I really appreciate the fact that you and the others care about me so much, but…"

"But?" She sounded confused.

"But," he repeated, "there's nothing wrong. Even if there was…I'd ask if I needed your help, okay?"

"Okay…" Inelie said slowly, than she grinned, "You're so stubborn, you know that?"

Eragon chuckled, "Of course, what else did you expect?"

Inside he felt immensely relieved.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! This chapter is almost twice as long as the first one. Hopefully it's not boring, yeah? Trying to explain some things. Introduce characters. Having a hard time though. **

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Chapter 2

Eragon's relief didn't last for long, however.

In front of him, his brother, Rioro, was pacing and talking about…something. Eragon wasn't really paying any attention. He just stood there and stared at the wall.

Rioro noticed and stopped pacing. "Are you listening?"

"Um, what?"

"I said, 'Are you listening?'" Rioro said, annoyed, "Which, the fact that I had to repeat it proves you weren't, by the way…"

"You've only been awake for an hour or so and you've already zoned out twice. Nice," Inelie said in-between mouthfuls of soup.

Rioro looked at her, "Not helping, Inelie…"

"Sorry."

Rhunön, who had come into the room without anyone noticing, giggled.

Eragon sighed, "Is Rhunön going to question me next? Then Karde, maybe?" he said sarcastically.

"Are you hungry, Eragon?" Rioro asked.

"What?"

"_Are. You. Hungry._"

"Why? How do you go from being agitated to asking me if I'm hungry?"

Rioro shrugged, "We can talk about it later. I'm asking if you're hungry because you might want to eat now."

"Why?" Rhunön asked.

He looked at her with an amused expression. "Eragon and I are going to the castle in a little bit. We won't be able to eat for a while, that's why."

"Oh."

Eragon ignored the younger elf and focused on his brother. "We are? Since when?"

"Since now."

"_Why?_"

Rioro stared at him. "What is with all the 'whys'?"

Rhunön laughed.

"I need to finish some things," Rioro continued, "and I decided that you're coming with me."

Eragon scowled, "Fine. I'll eat something and go to the castle with you-"

"Good."

"-but I won't like it!"

Rioro walked out of the room as he spoke, "Never said you had to. You eat and what ever else. I'll come find you when we need to go."

"Want some soup, Eragon?"

He jumped. He had completely forgotten Inelie was there.

"Yes, thank you."

She smiled as she got a clean bowl and poured some soup from a small pot into it.

"Here you go," She said as she set it front of the chair closest to him.

Eragon sat down, slowly breathing in the soup's scent. It smelled delicious. There were small pieces of carrot, celery, and herbs floating around in the liquid.

"How's it taste?" Rhunön asked as soon as he had a spoonful.

"Delicious."

Inelie smiled, "Thank you. You can have some too, Rhunön, there's plenty."

"It's a small pot…" Rhunön said doubtfully.

"Enough for several bowls, though."

"Okay, I'll have some. But only because you want me too."

Inelie laughed, "Tis all I ask."

Eragon watched them both the entire time with a smile on his face.

Rhunön sat down across from him with her bowl.

"So, Eragon, if that is your real name-"

He raised an eyebrow.

"-how are you on this fine afternoon?"

"Good, for the most part, I guess. You're not going to ask questions like my brother and Inelie are you?"

"No, just curious."

Silence (excluding the sounds of slurping) filled the room as they ate. Inelie soon became bored and left.

Eragon finished his soup first and, having nothing better to do, watched Rhunön.

He and Rhunön were younger than all of the others in the house, they were the only teenagers, though, being a few years younger than him, Rhunön was the youngest.

She was wearing a, surprisingly, clean light green dress and looked about fifteen with short (stopped at her chin), black messy hair that curled away from her head at the ends and constantly got in her face. She'd already gotten the ends soaked in her soup.

Eragon burst out laughing, causing Rhunön to get more soup on her face that dripped onto her dress.

She glared at him, "What are you laughing at?"

"Do you actually care at all that you're covered in soup?"

"Not really. I'll take a bath later…"

He laughed again.

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Eragon walked through the hallways, past many identical doors. He was taking a longer route than normal in order to avoid running into anyone, not that running into someone was easy when only ten people lived in the large house. He just didn't feel particularly lucky today.

He abruptly stopped at one of the doors and opened it. A cool breeze played with his hair as he walked outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

Eragon look around. This wasn't exactly where he wanted to come outside. _Close enough, _he thought.

He was in-between two walls covered in smooth gray stone. The entire outside of the house was covered in it. So was the door he's just come out of. Eragon grabbed a spot in the middle of the door where a lone rock had fallen out and silently closed it.

The door blended in perfectly.

He jogged out from between the walls; turning left he slowed down to a walk.

Eragon shivered as he looked around, no matter how used to it he felt; how normal it seemed in his mind, the beauty of Alalëa always hit him full force.

There were plants everywhere. Every possible color, texture, shape, smell, and even taste (if you wanted to eat them), that anyone could possibly imagine and more.

He stopped at the base of his favorite tree; a cherry blossom tree.

The wonders around him were amazing. Simply gorgeous. Eragon knew that no matter how much he wondered, he would never find the answer to how Nature could make itself so lovely. There was nothing he could do but appreciate it. It sent chills down his spine.

He looked up at his tree (he'd claimed it as his own when was only four, much to the amusement of his brother) and skillfully climbed up to his favorite branch.

This is where he always came when he wanted to think or just plain relax.

Eragon lounged on his branch, listening to the breeze blow through the leaves and petals of the plants around him. He sighed, content.

Across the tops of the trees, he could see rooftops and the castle in the distance.

"Oh, Alalëa, you're so lovely, yet you have such disgusting inhabitants…" he whispered.

"You know, they think we're disgusting too," said a voice below him.

Eragon started and looked down, "What do you mean by that?"

Rhunön was looking up at him. "Just…I'm not sure, but…it can work both ways. What we feel about them is exactly what they feel about us."

"So? They're worse!" Eragon retorted, "I hate the fact that if some random person were to throw a rock at some other random person, they'd be punished, yet if that rock were to hit me instead, other people would join in and then _I'd_ be punished." He stopped, thoroughly irritated. He knew deep inside he was right; Rhunön knew it too.

Rhunön sighed, "I know…I dislike it too-"

Eragon almost immediately felt slightly ashamed. He's forgotten that it was the same for her. She was like him.

"-But I don't want to waste my time hating them…Better to live my life and enjoy it, instead of worrying about what others think, right?"

She looked away towards some small white flowers before returning her gaze to him. There was an emotion in her eyes that wasn't there before.

It was love, Eragon knew, he had seen in her eyes before.

"Uh…" he said softly. He didn't know how to respond to her little speech or the emotion. He never knew how to respond when she did this.

Luckily for him, a voice called Eragon right at that moment. It came from the house.

"That's Rioro. I've got to go. Bye, Rhunön." He said, the words pouring out of his mouth as he scrambled down the tree.

Hurt replaced the love in her eyes. "Um, okay, bye Eragon…"

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Eragon sprinted towards the front of the house, almost flying head-first into Rioro's chest as he turned the last corner and skidded to a stop.

He backed away, bent at the waist with his hands on his knees and panted.

"That was very fast," his older brother remarked.

Eragon looked up at him. Rioro was dressed in fine black leggings, a dark green shirt, and a black vest. His black boots were spotless and shiny. His black hair was also shiny, though not quite as much, and covered the very tips of his ears.

Rioro smirked, "Are you ready now that you're covered in sweat?"

"It'll dry as we walk there." _At least Rhunön won't be there…_

"Sure." With that, Rioro turned around and walked down the road.

Eragon hesitated before running to catch up.

"Why didn't you just go inside while I was walking away?" Rioro asked as soon as Eragon slowed to a walk next to him.

Eragon grinned, "Because you would just come find me and drag me by my toes."

"Very true. How well you know me, little brother."

"What do you have to do at the castle? I thought you don't have to work today?" Eragon glanced at his brother.

"I wouldn't normally, but I missed some important papers yesterday. Some stupid person moved my stuff around."

"So I get to sit around while you do paperwork?"

"Pretty much. You could wander around the castle, but Miss Pretty Princess might not like that."

"_Might?_ She _hates_ me."

Rioro laughed, "That she does. Just stay around my room, okay?"

Eragon sighed, "Fine."

They reached the city and passed multiple houses on their way to the castle.

Eragon unconsciously moved closer to his brother as dozens of elves stopped to give him hostile looks.

Most of them had long black or silver hair and dressed in green clothing. They were so…plain, for some reason.

"Ignore them," Rioro whispered in his ear.

He nodded and focused on the castle. It was closer now.

A few more minutes of walking and they were in front of it.

Eragon stopped, staring at the large doors. He'd been in the castle once before when he was small. He didn't particularly like it very much. He had almost gotten lost and several people, including the princess, had threatened him. The princess herself had followed through with her threats and punched his face seven times. One for each year of being alive.

"Come on, Eragon! Don't just stand there!"

Eragon looked ahead at Rioro, who was standing beyond the doors, waving.

He took a deep breath and walked forward.


End file.
